Prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the James Bay Cree of northern Quebec

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the James Bay Cree in northern Quebec. DESIGN: Chart survey of physician-diagnosed cases of diabetes. The biochemical criteria of the World Health Organization were used to confirm the diagnoses. SETTING: Eight James Bay Cree communities: six remote and two rural. SUBJECTS: All James Bay Cree with diabetes whose names were in a chronic disease registry or on a diabetes clinic list kept at each community clinic. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence rates, both crude and standardized to the 1986 Canadian population, were estimated by sex, age group and type of diabetes. RESULTS: A total of 235 cases of diabetes were confirmed, for a crude prevalence of 2.7%. The age-standardized rate of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was 6.6% among people 20 years and over. The prevalence increased as the latitude decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Our crude prevalence resembles that in similar native linguistic and cultural groups elsewhere in Canada. Diabetes is becoming an important disease in the Cree population of Quebec. A better understanding of the sociocultural changes in this population is necessary.